Love and Whiskers
by Matuska
Summary: My first fic to go online, i'm scared. Please don't throw rocks. This is a story about GaaraNaruto, so nya! I love this pair. So anyways, this is after their big fight, they pass out in the dirt and their buddies dump them, so what do they do?
1. No Hands!

**disclaimer **nah >.> Naruto 'taint mine... nor any of the others... -sniffles- ;-;

**Author Comments** ok, my first fic on the net... X-x tell me how i'm doin, here! reviews... reviews... -twitch- incase you didn't read, this is a yaoi/yuri/whatever friendly fic here so anything can happen >.> -bwahahaha-

because I suck at HTML>

There was this odd, somehow tired feeling in the air. Yeah. As if air could feel tired, along with the people using it. At the moment, there were just two people using this particularly 'tired', more like 'exhausted' air, and yes, they did feel very, very exhausted.

Why?

Well, when two young, hot-headed ninjas come face-two-face, especially when one decides to test the other with the life of a friend, they have a tendency to somehow start beating the crap out of each other. Odd, yes? Well, not really.

Anyways, so they were very, very, tired. Didn't I go over this already? Oh right, yeah.

The shorter of the two, with his thick blonde hair and bright orange jacket, was occupying himself with somehow dragging his body across the dirt with no hands. See mommy? _No hands! _He was coming what you might say is 'dangerously close' to the other boy, who widened his dark lined eyes in something like terror.

"D-don't come near me!" he managed to say in a weary voice. He now knew what horrible strength the blonde one held. But he didn't stop. This one, with strength so vicious as to scare whole towns to pieces, was not going to stop here, not now. After everything that had happened… no way.

The dark-eyed one held his gaze upon the terrifying strength that was this boy, crawling towards him, and felt all he could do was tense up. His entire body, as tired as it was, tensed even more so than before. 'What will I do?' he thought franticly, 'could this boy still have anything left in him? Won't he kill me?'. But just then, the blonde scooted right up next to his former opponent, and, no more than eight inches away, passed out.

Relieved, the dark-eyed, red-haired boy dropped his head to the ground in a sigh, and passed out right along with the other.

They awoke the next morning, a warm, breezy day. Sun spots shown through the trees silently and rained their quiet warmth on the young boy's faces. The redhead was first to wake, opening his eyes slowly and shielding the sudden soft light from his eyes, opposed to the darkness he preferred.

Glancing in each direction lazily, he strained to remember why he was lying in the dirt in the middle of some forest. Then his eyes met the orange-clad boy who lay beside him, dirty and sweat-drenched from the previous evening, now sleeping peacefully. His first thought was to run away, but another moment's glance told the teal-green eyes, lined with darkness, of this boy to stay put, as well as his body. "Naruto…" he whispered softly. He didn't feel like leaving now, nor did he feel the _urge _to run away.

'Haven't my brother and sister come for me yet?' The redhead wondered, 'What about Uzumaki's friends? Shouldn't they have come to help him yet as well?'. The wind blew against his face gently as he began to worry. Not about others, but safety for himself. He knew his siblings should have come to take care of him by now.

"Nnnmmh…" a tired voice awoke from beside the already alert boy.

Startled, he backed up from the waking one and remained silent. "…What? Gaara?" Naruto jumped up, now standing. "Wha- what are _you_ doing here?" also startled, he continued, "Where are Sakura and Sasuke? Won't they be back for me?"

Gaara just stared, as if he were frozen with fear… or glue. Then their eyes met, teal to a bright blue. Naruto didn't stay put for long. "You!" he half-yelled, as he often did, "Why are we still here? What did you do to my friends?" the blonde ranted.

"….. Shut up" Gaara muttered.

Now our little spikey blonde was pissed, 'Who does he think he is?' he thought heatedly "I'm not afraid of you! I beat you up yesterday, didn't I?" getting his feathers ruffled, as always. Gaara didn't pay him very much attention now, ever since he had seen him sleeping like that, Gaara felt no danger being with this particular demon container. He didn't know why, but he wasn't going to complain either.

-sucks at HTML somemore->

**Author's Comments** oh jeezus, tell me how i did -hides- please don't throw rocks at me at least >o ... please


	2. Awkward Silence

**Author's Comments:** oh yay, 2 reviews. and i'm not being sarcastic xD anyways, hope you like teh chapter two.

**Awkward Silence**

Being the outcast that he was, Naruto was pretty used to being ignored, so instead of ranting off some more, he plopped himself back into a patch of grass with a scowl smeared on his face. Gaara didn't take any notice, and instead just looked around, seeming helpless. 'What is he looking for?' the blonde wondered, 'ooh… did his brother and sister ditch him?'. Staring rudely, Naruto planted his gaze upon the redhead and thought hard, which hurt. Then, he opened his mouth again.

"You're creepy!" he said quite bluntly. The dark lined eyes of Gaara turned slowly towards Naruto, dishing him out a cold, steely glare. The blonde shivered, then muttered something to himself and turned his back on the other boy, looking up at the sky. At least it was a nice morning, could have been worse.

Four hours later, the two still sat. Waiting for people who would never come. Gaara started to realize what had happened. He thought to himself gloomily, 'They never liked me, they've probably have been waiting for this chance since I was born… to abandon me.' He glanced at Naruto, 'hmph… I'll have to deal with him, too.' Gaara glared again, and stood.

"Listen to me" the redhead growled, and Naruto turned his head to face the boy. "You'll get in my way if I let you live now… come here.". Gaara still felt that Naruto was harmless now, even after they're fight the day before.

"No way!" the orange-clad boy shot up again and pointed directly at Gaara. "You should be afraid of me! I've already proven that I'm much stronger than you." Naruto looked pleased with himself, and crossed his arms stubbornly. But Gaara was not convinced, and he took a step towards the blonde. Naruto looked surprised, and took a step back. "Hey! What do you want with me anyways?" he spat.

"I'm _not _going to let you live, now…"Gaara narrowed his eyes and tugged the cork out of his gourd, sand now spilling out of it limply. The sand then picked itself up and swirled around the redhead. Naruto raised his hands in defense.

"U-um… don't be so hasty," he thought for a moment, "you know you can't beat me."

Gaara scowled and inched his sand closer to the spikey blonde. It suddenly grasped his leg tightly and started to tighten its grip. Naruto's eyes widened, then he growled. Teal-green eyes stared at the growling boy and the sand crept up towards his torso. Now sensing immediate danger, Naruto tensed and clenched his fists. He started to struggle against the sand, but it was no use.

Gaara watched the scene, controlling the sand with little effort. He focused on Naruto's face, and the redhead's shoulders relaxed, his hand, which had been up in front of him controlling his weapon, lowered. Gaara stared blankly for a moment, and the little fox boy standing close by blinked as the sand dropped to the ground, limp once more.

'What's wrong with me?' Gaara thought fiercely to himself, 'Dammit, why can't I kill him?' His teal eyes narrowed again as he bit his bottom lip at Naruto, trying not to hit himself in the head in anger. He then clutched his head, looking at the ground in front of him. "_Why?_" there were sudden sharp pains in his head.

Naruto gasped and took a step closer to the other boy. "Are you ok?" he asked, venturing even closer now. Gaara lifted his head and found himself staring into Naruto's eyes. The redhead's eyes widened, and he remembered that Naruto was like him. Someone who was hated, a demon, like him. He cursed to himself and wondered why Naruto would take the chance to see if Gaara was 'ok'. Stupid caring people, stupid, _stupid idiots. _

Gaara picked himself up, and Naruto repeated himself. "Are you ok?" Gaara listened to the concern in his voice, and looked at Naruto silently. The blonde looked back, just as silently. There was a long, uncomfortable silence. 'What the hell is he thinking?' Naruto thought to himself, and he made a face while doing so.

"I'm fine." Gaara managed to say, before finally coming to a decision. "And I'm… not going to kill you."

**Author's Comments: **Alright now, gotta get some more reviews x3 please?


	3. Come on, Strip!

**Author's Comments:** --.--'' thank you Goth Child for telling me that… and yay! 7 reviews! XD and you guys LIKE IT! -explodes with joy-

Anyways, on with the chapter

**Come on, Strip!**

Naruto blinked at Gaara, and then again, and then a third time. 'Gaara doesn't even _want _to kill me?' he wondered to himself. Gaara thought the same thing to himself.

'What… ? I'm not going to? What the hell did I just say?' but he didn't change his mind, nor did he say anything more for the rest of the day. He sat quietly by the trunk of a tree, staring at the clouds until he was suddenly staring at the stars instead. The blonde just wandered around the area all day, trying to ignore Gaara's creepy silence.

Finally, as the moon rose higher in the sky and crickets chirped into the night, Naruto came back to where the redhead sat. "Um, I guess we shouldn't try to go back…" Naruto thought out loud, "hmmm… me and you are so alike," he added, now directing his words towards Gaara, "and our friends… kinda ditched us…" the orange-clad boy looked at the ground shamefully with the thought. Gaara still sat there.

"…" was his reply, though he was thinking in his head rather loudly, 'Go on… what's he getting at?'.

"Well, maybe we could just stay here." Naruto then glanced awkwardly at Gaara and quickly to the sky, "We could be friends, I bet." he half-whispered, as though he wasn't sure about the idea, and stole another look at the redhead. Gaara looked back.

"Ok" the words inched from Gaara's mouth before he had much time to think about it, but that's how his reply stayed. He didn't say much else, and continued to gaze up at the sky until morning. Naruto had long fallen asleep, after smiling at the other boy's short answer, and feeling content with himself so far.

When Naruto woke, he sat up and realized he had slept in the dirt all night, and was covered in it. He stood and glanced at Gaara, who had his arms crossed, and his back propped up against a tree. His eyes were half-closed, and he was obviously not very well-rested. The blonde shook some of the dirt from his clothes and walked quietly over to Gaara, but not so that the redhead could see him. He looked at him for a moment, and then decided it was best to leave him be. The day before, Naruto had found a good swimming hole just a short walk away. Now, he headed back towards it with simple goals: to be refreshed, and to wash off some grossness from the previous days.

Naruto reached the hole, and crouched close to the ground next to the water's edge. He then dipped his hands in it, and scooped some up. Looking at his reflection for a moment, he made a face, then drank. It was clean, clear water. They were lucky to have this place nearby. The blonde straightened up, and proceeded to strip off everything he had on, including his jacket, shirt, weapon pouch, pants, shoes, and boxers. He smiled and dove without hesitating into the waters and swam about playfully. He cleaned off his face, and scrubbed through his thick blonde spikey hair. Kicking his feat, he splashed and tried to catch fast fish under the surface.

'Waking' wasn't really the word for it, but Gaara sort of 'woke' and looked about him, noticing that a certain orange loudmouth wasn't within his range of vision. He stood, looking around himself some more, and then heard splashing, and short spurts of laughter not far away. The redhead followed the sounds and came across Naruto's play. He caught sight of the dirty, but still bright orange clothing that was draped over a tree branch, then looked down at his clothes and noticed he was pretty dirty as well. But he didn't start stripping, oh no. Darn, you wanted him to, didn't ya? Anyways, he just sort of stood there, waiting for the blonde to notice him. It didn't take long before Naruto spotted Gaara.

"Hey! Gaara!" he called, waving at the teal-eyed boy causally, "I was so dirty! I had to take a dip! Aren't you thirsty, too?" Gaara thought for a moment, and noticed the other boy was right. He nodded at Naruto silently and bent down to the water's edge and took a sip in the same fashion that Naruto had earlier. "Want to swim, too?" Naruto asked, "it's nice! I could swim all day!" the blonde leaned back onto the water and floated lazily on the surface. His whole body shone against the sun brightly, and Gaara couldn't help but to take a look, I mean, why not? But only for a moment. His dark-lined eyes slid from the blonde's face, down to his shoulders, and rested on his torso for a moment before sliding down a bit further, a pause, then down his legs. Gaara shook his head, realizing he had been staring a bit. But Naruto hadn't even noticed, he was much too busy enjoying the water. The redhead took a seat beside the swimming hole's edge and watched birds fly by overhead.

The sun beat down on him and his dark clothes, and Gaara became uncomfortable. 'Oh… whatever' he thought to himself uncharacteristically and started to unbuckle the gourd from his shoulder. After getting that off, he slipped off everything else down to his boxers and stood, his face flushing a bit.

Naruto noticed the activity on land and waved a hand at Gaara again, "Hey! Are you gonna come swim, then?" he smiled, and Gaara's face got slightly pinker as the redhead slid into the water carefully. He submerged his entire body up to his eyes, and traveled ever so slowly towards Naruto. The blonde smiled again and flicked a small bit of water at his new-found 'friend', and for the first time without death occurring afterwards, Naruto saw Gaara smile.

**Author's Comments:**oo like? I hope so….x3 review!


End file.
